All You Need To Know About Sustainability And Employer Branding

(This post was updated on 7/6/2020)

Going green. It’s a topic many people are concerned about nowadays. With so many people working remotely this year, we’ve had even more time to consider our environmental impact in both our home and work lives. So, how can we carry that mentality into the workplace once we go back to the office?

The chances are that even if you make an effort to incorporate environmental sustainability into your personal life, it might not be a big part of your professional life.

That means many employers are missing a huge opportunity to improve their employer branding. Even if you’re not overly going into the eco-friendly movement, there are a lot of benefits you can reap by incorporating environmental sustainability into your business model.

Here are three employer branding benefits that come along with being a greener company:

Easier recruitment

Many Millennials and Gen Zers grew up learning about environmental sustainability. They understand the importance of making more responsible choices. And that includes employment choices.

A 2019 survey from HP, found that 61% of office workers say sustainable business practices are a “must-have” for companies. Initiating environmentally-conscious programs at your company creates a significant recruiting advantage.

Include information about your company’s sustainability in your employer branding on your career page and feature your efforts during the hiring process. Talk with job seekers about why you make the decisions you do and why being green was important. Seeing you care about the state of the world will draw many candidates, especially young ones.

Social reputation

We all know how much a company’s name can be tarnished when it’s revealed that they pollute heavily or make irresponsible social choices. Luckily, however, when a company focuses on environmental sustainability, it improves its reputation. People relate to and appreciate their efforts and are more likely to support the company.

A 2019 First Insight Inc. survey found that 54% of Gen Zers are willing to spend an additional 10% or more on sustainable products, with 50% of Millennials saying the same. Your company’s social responsibility can not only help you get more customers but more loyal ones that keep coming back.

Higher revenue 

Many business leaders are worried about going green because they assume the more responsible choices mean extra costs their company can’t afford. So instead of purchasing recycled paper or energy-efficient equipment, they stick with what they know. But the truth is, in the long-term, environmental sustainability correlates with making more money.

In addition to winning young adults’ business, going green adds up to savings in many other places such as tax credits, grants, energy use, and more.

So yes, it might seem like you’re spending more in the beginning, but the long-term savings and the more significant customer base will keep the money flowing in.

Options to adopt

Now that you see additional pros of environmental sustainability, what options are best for your company? Here are some small, but important initiatives you can start:

Recycling

Chances are, you’ve got a recycling bin for paper or aluminum cans in your office somewhere. But there are always more opportunities to recycle your resources. A big one that many companies don’t think of is electronics. In most cases, most computers, phones, and printers can be recycled, making a significant environmental impact.

Going paperless 

Think about all the files, invoices, and documents it takes to run a business. If you haven’t yet gone paperless with the majority of things, that’s a lot of wasted trees. And in this day and age of cloud storage, there’s no reason why you can’t make everything from your billing to your payroll paperless.

Energy-efficient equipment

There are very few pieces of equipment that don’t have a more energy-efficient option. Whether it’s the light bulbs you use or the old microwave in the break room, you could replace a hundred things with newer models that use less electricity. For bigger pieces of equipment, the government sometimes offers subsidies for the purchase, so research those requirements to find more information.

What are some other ways for companies to practice environmental sustainability? Share in the comments below?